My Evaluation Of The Alabama Rig

[redboat]

Worthless.

[Bassn Blvd]

HaHaHa. It was worth at least $20 to somebody though.

[WookieeJedi]

So far, I tend to agree. Every thing I'm throwing seems to catch them, except for the Bama rig. It is only a matter of time before the other lures start hazing it.

[NZ6]

I watched a guy throug it a few weeks ago he said mabe it's just me but no bites I stick with my worms an spinnerbaits

[Scorcher214]

I gave it a shot with 4, 3.5in money minnows. Nothing. I felt like I was scaring the fish with the splash it made in the water. Im done trying though, perhaps some albino super flukes might work.

[jmed999]

I've caught absolutely nothing with it. And boy it's hard to cast for a long period of time.

[roadwarrior]

Well, I have only fished The Rig for a day and a half so far, but have caught some fine bass and

well over 150 lbs of fish! Most of the guys I know are catching size and numbers, winning tournaments

and claiming the big bass to go with it.

The Rig is THE BOMB!

However, you still have to find the fish. When you do, hold on and brace yourself, this is no sissy bite!

I'm still experimenting with a variety of presentations, but the #1 aspect is flash in the middle. Some are

just using a bigger bait, but I like a blade. I'm rigging small LFT Live Magic Shad weightless on the outer

arms, Johnson Silver Minnow in the middle. I would estimate the total weight to be just an ounce or so.

[ripinthem]

Agree on finding the fish, which is a huge key on any method, but you also have to look at the stage your fish are in. I took that one on the chin on Sat. Pre-fished on Wed, and fish were schooled at 12 feet, catching studs on every other cast, big pre-spawn females. Left 2 spots, cause I didn't want to burn them( it was sweeet). Tournament on Sat, fished 2 hours on the sweet spots, and zeroed. The water had warmed, and pushed the fish to the banks, in thick structure. Rallied for second place, catching 2 nice female on beds in last hour, and lost another at the boat. A-rig played 0 role in any of the places, but wait till post spawn when they school back up ..............Remember its just another tool.

[bigbassctchr101]

I thought this thing was the same rig that ANYONE could you with NO EFFORT and catch all the fish in the lake? I'm glad some people aren't catching fish and reeling in doubles on every cast. The rig works. But it has its time and place. I wish more people would have fished it and came up with these mixed results before everyone hated on it and called it cheating though. There will always be fish that can be caught on this thing. But same holds true for crankbaits and jigs. Personally--- I'm hoping more and more people have several days that they zero on it and eventually put it up =)

[Ramz]

I just recently bought one and haven't tried it yet, though I can't wait to. It seems to me that the A-rig is more of a novelty lure, but I can't honestly give my thoughts on it until I actually throw it. What type of line, rod, reel are you guys using when you throw it?

[riskkid 2]

, but wait till post spawn when they school back up ..............Remember its just another tool.

I believe this is key

[Quillback]

Read a reliable report from a guide on Table Rock in another forum. Winners of a tourney this weekend had a 28 lb. bag of five fish. That is a huge one day bag for TR. Their biggest fish was a little over 9 lbs. Rest of the fish were 5 lbs. including a couple of 5 lb. smallies, they were culling 4 lb. fish. They were using the A-rig, targeting pre-spawn holding areas. The a-rig isn't going to work all the time, but when it does you can spank 'em!

[WookieeJedi]

I will try putting a spoon in the middle for some flash. The thing looks good in the water, and looks like it should catch something sooner or later. I'm dealing with really clear water right now, and I think the rig itself may be putting them off. But frogs, crankbaits, jigs, worms, swimbaits, and creatures are all doing the job right now. If the hype around this rig was all true, it would be catching them as well. Ten years from now, the bama rig will be just another lure, like the senko and carolina rig, with a time and place, just like the others. Outlawing them for tournaments may be the best marketing ploy since New Coca-Cola.

[fxdwgkd]

I just recently bought one and haven't tried it yet, though I can't wait to. It seems to me that the A-rig is more of a novelty lure, but I can't honestly give my thoughts on it until I actually throw it. What type of line, rod, reel are you guys using when you throw it?

Saltwater guys have been using the umbrella rig (th A-rig is essentially an umrella rig) for years. It is far from a novelty rig, however it is just recently being used in freshwater to target bass.

[redboat]

So to put this in context, since whatever someone posts there will always be somebody else who replies, "Naw, it works FINE for me":

My fishing buddy I.M. HaungUp and I fished Rayburn last weekend, two days, Saturday (12 hours) and Sunday (about 7 hours). We each had Alabama rigs; mine the "original", his a knockoff that actually looked better and included some cool looking swim baits. We caught a total of 18 bass, using Senkos, T-rigged Grande Bass Rattlesnakes, square billed crank baits, and rattletraps. Got a couple of spinner bait hits, but missed the hook sets. Got a couple jerkbait hits.

So we alternated throwing A-rig for a couple of hours each day. He stuck with the original swim baits; I began with Flukes and switched to paddle tail swim baits. Total haul was ZERO, nada, zilch, unless you count some of the hydrilla we dredged up from time to time.

He threw his in the lake Sunday around noon. I waited until I got home to throw mine in the trash can.

Here are the problems I see with this rig:

(1) We've been trying for years to come up with line the fish can't see. Floro, green mono, whatever. Now you have this big ol' basket looking thing with black piano wire. What fish is gonna bit on THAT? A suicide bass mabye?

(2) The dang thing weighs ten pounds (exaggerated); its like swinging a baseball bat with a weight on it. Five or six casts and you're ready to go lay down for a while. I can't imagine throwing that thing all day, you'd need forearms like Popeye!

(3) It makes a splash sorta like a big gator jumping in. Or maybe two or three. Useful if you think the bass are asleep but otherwise I assume they'd be scared off.

(4) You use up a boatload of baits and at around $1 a pop these days this is gonna get expensive.

(5) No bites, no hits, nothing all day.

So: Worthless. Of course if you hooked up a fence shocker to it...hmmmm...

[Avalonjohn44]

Worthless? Seriously? Never mind the facts:

- The A-rig has contributed to multiple recent tournament wins...

- Only tens of thousands dollars won by several different pros using it

- And B.A.S.S. and FLW are working to outlaw it in their tourneys because it is so effective...

So yeah, never mind all of that, Redboat's 'exhaustive and highly scientific' study (approximately 8 hours over the course an ENTIRE weekend) concluded that basically it splashed too much so is therefore worthless must be true.

/sarcasm No harm intended, just poking fun...

[WookieeJedi]

I'm not giving up so easily on it. I think it has some potential for summer and fall. If nothing else, it should get the job done on schooling hybrids and stripers when the time comes. But miracle lure? Hardly. It has taught me something, if I ever develop a new lure, the first thing I'm doing after applying for a patent is to get BASS to outlaw it.

[Quillback]

As for the comments about the rig wearing people out after a few casts, make sure you have the right gear for it, I use a Shimano Crucial 7'11" deep cranking rod and a beat up Calcutta reel (I'm going to get a different rod for this application soon, Crucial is a little whimpy for this). I throw it all day no problem. But I also use 1/8 oz jigheads so the total package is barely over an ounce. I don't use a boatload of baits either, unless I'm catching lots of fish, they will tear up the swimbaits, but that's fine. Superglue your baits to the jighead and you won't go through a bunch of baits (especially if you're not catching fish). Not that I'm trying to sell anyone on using the rig, but it's a good tool to have in the toolbox, especially in the Ozark lakes I fish.

[senile1]

I haven't fished the rig yet, but I've read quite a few fishing reports, especially from the Winter months. All winter at Norfork Lake, Table Rock, Bull Shoals, etc I have seen good fishing reports and the alabama rig was mentioned in every single one. Just from my reading it would appear that the best circumstances for using the rig are when the bass are grouped up, schooling, or suspended and feeding on shad. That would explain its success this past winter and also points to other times of the year when it could be very useful. There would obviously be circumstances and times when it isn't the best tool to use and you would probably have a difficult time catching bass with it. I've seen too many good reports about it to call it a failure, but again, this is only secondhand information.

[ww2farmer]

It's obvious this thread was started be someone who thinks bait are supposed to be "magic". Anyone with any credibility here is just going to chase there tail trying to argue with such ignorance. The concept of time/place for certain baits/techniques seem to be lost in translation.

[redboat]

It's obvious this thread was started be someone who thinks bait are supposed to be "magic".

No, it was started by someone who thinks the Alabama rig is worthless (read the first post in the thread).

[redboat]

Worthless? Seriously? Never mind the facts:

SUPPOSED facts. I can only relate my experience with it.

And John Galt is a character in the Ayn Rand book, "Atlas Shrugged". I assume this indicates you can read, or at least have read one book. I will admit I am surprised.

(/more sarcasm, just poking fun)

[Avalonjohn44]

Supposed facts? LOL

Gault

[Mumpy]

I also haven't caught anything on the Rig but I'm not foolish enough to discount it yet. I KNOW there is a time and place for every lure out there. I've just not been at the right place at the right time yet. That day is coming though and I can't wait! Each year down here in West Point and Eufaula the Bass will School the Shad and explode the top of the water. Usually they explode just out of range for you to toss a lure. I can toss that A-Rig a country Mile! I can't wait to start tossing it in the middle of the Explosion.

It's coming soon, and I can't wait!

[Diggy]

I had a huge bass, probably 5lbs minimum hit this the other day going thru the weeds. The side of the fish looked like a small boat. It made my friend go put his on his setup. We both got snagged simultaneously but got them back. That would have sucked.